In these chapters, Hester visits the governor’s mansion. She wants to find out if the rumors that Pearl might be taken away from her are true. When she finally meets with the governor she begs him to not take her daughter away from her. They agree to not separate the mother and child, and Pearl seems to take a liking to the governor. Chillingworth tries to convince the governor to reopen the case of revealing who the father of Pearl is, but he refuses. Chillingworth changed his name upon his arrival to Boston to hide his true identity, even though Hester knows his true Identity, and she was sworn to secrecy. He is known as the doctor of the town, and because the town has very little medical help, he is openly welcome. When Dimmesdale begins to have lots of chest pains, the doctor moves in with him to make sure everything is ok. Even though the minister doesn’t trust the doctor, because he has no reason for his distrust, he still does what he says. The minister’s sickness causes him to give more powerful sermons, mostly focusing in sins. At night, he cant sleep and he begins to have visions. He has a vision of Hester pointing at her scarlet letter, and then pointing at the clergyman. The minister believes that he is jus delusional and doesn’t pay any mind to his visions. He then begins to torture himself, by whipping himself, not eating, and not sleeping. He then thinks he knows how to remedy his pain. He decides to hold a vigil, on the same scaffold where Hester had suffered her punishment years ago

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...﻿114315
English 11 AP
Mrs. Ingersoll
February 25, 2014
Scarlet’s Change
In the ScarletLetter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the scarletletter portrays the image and a story of a young woman who has committed adultery and is forced to wear the scarletletter “A” on the center of her chest. Hawthorne tells about her life and how she goes through life with the excruciating burden like that of sin. When Hester Prynne is first accused of committing adultery, the puritan society refuses to acknowledge her for they fear the effects of the scarletletter. As time progresses, Hester begins to give back to her community to show that she does not let the effects of the letter stop her from doing what she wants; she helps feed, nurse, and sew clothing for the poor, and people begin to see the A as a symbol of able, instead of adultery. After the community sees all that Hester has done, they begin to accept her and are no longer judgmental towards her.
In the puritan society, a rather large letter on your chest represents a great sin worthy of public representation. In Hester Prynne’s case, she is forced to wear the letter A on everything she wears to symbolize she has committed adultery. Hawthorne describes the A as, “On the breast of her grown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic...

...ScarletLetterChapterSummariesChapter 1:
The Prison Door
The first chapter pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the book. It describes a door, the door to the prison in seventeenth century Boston. The door is studded with iron spikes and is surrounded with overgrown weeds and one rosebush. The narrator suggests that it’s a reminder of nature’s kindness to the prisoners. It says it will provide a “sweet moral blossom” in the face of distress.
Chapter 2:
The Market-Place
The women standing outside the prison are smugly talking about Hester Prynne’s sin. Hester emerges from the prison looking proud, and holding an infant, and made her way to the scaffold, where she is supposed to be publicly damned. Hester has a gold and scarletletter “A” on her chest, which means she has committed adultery and has had an illegitimate child, the letter “A” stands for “Adulterer”. The beadle calls Hester forward, the children taunt her, and the adults stare. She starts to have flashbacks of her parents standing outside their home in rural England. Suddenly becoming aware of the crowd, she agonizingly remembers her present punishment for her shameful crime.
Chapter 3:
The Recognition
In the crowd that is surrounding Hester, she spots her husband, who promised her he’d follow her to America, but never did. Even...

...Chapter Five: Hester at Her Needle
Summary
Hester is released from prison and finds a cottage in the woods, near the outskirts of the city, to set up her new life. Hawthorne comments on the fact that she does not avail herself of the opportunity to escape to a new life without shame in some other city. He remarks that often people are irresistibly drawn to live near the place where a great has occurred. He further comments that even if that is not the reason, Hester may have been inclined to remain in Boston because her secret lover still lived there.
Hester's skill at needlework, earlier shown in the fine way that she displayed the scarletletter, allows her to maintain a fairly stable lifestyle. However, her reputation as an outcast and loner causes a certain aura to be cast around her. Thus, Hawthorne points out that young children often crept up to her house to spy on her while she worked. He also comments that in spite of her excellent needlework, she was never called upon to make a bridal gown due to her reputation.
Hester spends her time working on the projects which bring in her income, and devotes the remainder of her work to creating garments for the poor. She lives simply with the sole exception being that she creates amazing dresses of fine fabrics for Pearl.
Hester's social life is virtually eliminated as a result of her shameful history. She is treated so poorly that often preachers will stop in...

... How Hester Changes
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The ScarletLetter is a story of love, sin, and self-realization. Hester Prynne is a beautiful young woman who commits adultery, and as punishment she has to wear a scarlet “A” on her shirt everywhere she goes. Her society shuns her and she can no longer have normal relations. Hester Prynne is defined by the scarletletter and goes through many changes throughout the novel.
The letter isolates her and she can longer have normal relations with society. Hawthorne mentions how “it had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.” (Hawthorne 49) This quote shows how something as simple as a letter on her shirt caused the entire community to reject her and outcast her. When Hawthorne spoke of the townspeople’s reactions, he wrote, “…turning their heads continually to stare into her face, and at the winking baby in her arms, and at the ignominious letter on her breast.” (Hawthorne 50) All the people would stare at her, but no one would address her or try to be nice. Some even referred to her as a witch. When Hawthorne wrote of Hester’s feelings concerning the townspeople he stated, “from the intense consciousness of being the object of severe and universal observation, the wearer of the...

...﻿J.M.J
The ScarletLetter Interpretive Essay
English 11
First Quarter
Harley Grace Masoner
1006891.02
December 14, 2014
2. How the third scaffold scene frees Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl in different ways.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The ScarletLetter, is a fantastic piece of symbolism, which delves into the society of seventeenth century Puritans, in colonial Boston. Centered on Hester Prynne, a young woman sent to the colonies by her husband, Roger Chillingworth, she is first introduced standing upon the scaffold, bearing to society her guilt of adultery through the scarlet A on her chest and her daughter, Pearl, in her arms. Here Hester refuses to confess Arthur Dimmesdale’s identity as her lover and Pearl’s father. Dimmesdale, a newly ordained minister, recognizes his transgressions, yet is still unable to admit his relation to Hester and Pearl, a secret which serves to cause restless turmoil until he confesses in the third scaffold scene. Because of his public confession in the third scaffold scene, Dimmesdale, Hester, and Pearl are each freed from two burdens that the adultery caused and that each character carries into the scene.
Dimmesdale confesses his sin in the third scaffold scene, an action which frees him from his heavy guilt and from the torment of Chillingworth. In the first scaffold scene, Arthur stands on the balcony pleading with Hester to declare his name, as...

...Sin and guilt are one of the main themes that are continuously mentioned in Nathaniel Hawthorn's book The ScarletLetter. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth experience the different forms and effects of sin and guilt. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are both mostly convicted for having the sin of adultery while Roger Chillingworth is most guilty of having the sin of revenge. Out of these 3 main characters Hester handles her sin through most effective way and used it to her advantage. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, on the other hand, were not as “strong” as Hester when it came to dealing with their sins. Even though they were already well respected and effective figures in the society their sins caused them to slowly lose their self-control and their “well-respected” positions in the society. However it was the opposite for Hester, she, as a widowed woman, made the best use out of her sin, found a way to live with it, slowly became more and more popular in the society, and arguably had the best ending out of these three characters. Throughout the novel different forms of sin and guilt are handled in unique ways.
Main character of our story is Hester Prynne. She is the center of attention, and sadly she is also the center of sin. Hester Prynne’s main sin is adultery which is what the whole book is pretty much about. Hester commits this sin with Dimmesdale but until the end of the book she is the only one that suffers...

...Mira Susa, Jennifer Welsh
Mr. Jordan
AP Language and Composition
19 November 2009
“Chapter 17”
Chapter 17, “The Pastor and His Parishioner,” of The ScarletLetter, starts off with Dimmesdale returning from his journey through the dark forest, upon which Hester waits faithfully for him out of the public eye, and more importantly, Chillingworth. The scene is gloomy; it is noon, however, the sun is shaded by a clouded sky and the thick foliage of the forest, transforming it into a gray twilight. The moment passes when they encounter face to face after seven years of the punishment Hester has been given. They act coldly until Dimmesdale, with fear and reluctant necessity, grabbed Hester’s hand, which broke the dreary part of the encounter.
Afterwards, they sit near a brook on a heap of moss and engage in casual conversation, until they start talking about inner peace, or more specifically, whether they have any inner peace. Dimmesdale has not found any from his hypocrisy and sin. He says he cannot console others about their sins when he is sinful. Hester says he does many good works and his sin should be left behind. Dimmesdale on the other hand wishes that he has someone, a friend, he could console in and tell his sins – this would keep his soul alive. Hester claims she could be that partner, but also warns he has an enemy close to him, even under the same roof. Dimmesdale is shocked. Hester realizes...

...Hester Prynne is the main character of this novel. She is a young married woman whose husband was presumed lost at sea on the journey to the New World many years before the heart of the story begins. She a secret forbidden relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, the highly regarded town minister, and becomes pregnant with a daughter, whom she names Pearl. She is then publicly condemned and forced to wear the scarletletter "A" on her clothing to identify her as an adulteress, but because of her loyalty refuses to reveal the identity of her lover. She accepts the punishment with grace and refuses to be defeated by the shame inflicted upon her by her society. Hester only partially regains her community's favor through good deeds and an admirable character by the end of her life. Dimmesdale, knowing that the punishment will be shame or execution, does not admit his relationship with Prynne. In his role as minister he dutifully pillories and interrogates Hester in the town square about the identity of the father. He maintains his righteous image, but internally he is dogged by his guilt and the shame of his weakness and hypocrisy. This is known by an open, self-inflicted wound on his chest. He is admired while Hester receives social contempt. Prynne's husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns but does not reveal his identity to anyone but Hester. Suspecting the identity of Hester's partner, he becomes Dimmesdale's caretaker and plans his revenge on him by...